Steam-boiler furnace.



PatentedJanlLlQlO.

z sHEETs-SHBET 1.

(L H. KNOWLES.

STEAM BOILER FURNAGE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 3o, 1909.

Patented Jan. 11, 1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNIT

STEAM-BOILER FURNACE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES HENRY KNowLns, citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Steam-Boiler Furnaces, of which the following is a specification.

My invention pertains to furnaces, more particularly steam boiler furnaces; and it contemplates the provision in a furnace of improved means for feeding air and otherwise supporting combustion with a view of assuring complete consumption of the products of combustion, and utilizing to the best advantage the heat given ofi' thereby.

Other objects and advantageous features of thez invention will be fully understood from the following description and claim when the same are read in connection with the drawings, accompanying and forming part of this specification, in which:

Figure l is a vertical section taken through the longitudinal center of a steam boiler furnace constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a front end elevation with the front end wall of the furnace casing partly broken away, and the stack and the grate omitted. Fig. 3 is an enlarged transverse section illustrating the arrangement of the foraminous crosswise portion of the airsupply means, relative to the bridge wall of the furnace. Fig. t is an enlarged view, partly in plan and partly in section, of the air-supply means.

Similar letters designate corresponding parts in all of the views of the drawings, referring to which:

A is the casing of a boiler and furnace; the said casing being of steel or other material compatible with its purpose, and being of the shape illustrated or of any other shape consonant with my invention. At c the said casing or shell is provided with an opening, designed for the connection of a steam conduit which I have deemed it unnecessary to illustrate.

In the casing or shell A is arranged a combustion chamber B, the walls of which are also preferably of steel. The forward portion b of the said chamber B is preferably of circular form in cross-section and corrugated in order to lend st-iness and strength thereto, while the rear portion 0 is of increased size in cross-section, and is shaped and arranged, relative to the forward portion as Specification of Letters latcnt.

Application filed March 30, 1909,

Patented Jan. 11, 1910.

Serial No. 486,654.

clearly shown by full and dotted lines in Fig. for a purpose hereinafter set forth. By reference to Figs. l and 2, it will be noted that the forward end of the combustion chamber b is formed by a plate (Z, suitably attached to the forward end wall of the casing or shell A, and that in the said plate CZ are provided a fuel opening c and a lower opening the fuel opening c being normally closed by a suitable door f2, and the lower opening f being designed to permit of the removal of ashes when occasion demands.

Arranged in the chamber B at about the point illustrated, is a bridge wall C, preferably formed partly by a steel casting g and bodies 7L, of refractory material, thereon, and interposed between a ledge c' on the portion g of the bridge wall and a ledge j fixed to the plate d is a grate D, which may be of any suitable construction and may be used to support any fuel that is adapted for use in my improved furnace.

E is the air-supply means comprised in my novel furnace. The said means comprises two longitudinal conduits 7c, disposed above the grate D adjacent the side edges thereof and resting at their rear ends on the bridge wall C, forward depending conduit sections Z and extending through the plate Z of the conduits 7c and curved in conformity with the wall of the forward portion o of the combustion chamber B, forwardly directed conduit sections m connected with the sections Z and extending through the plate l and communicating with the atmosphere, a crosswise conduit section a joining the rear ends of the sections 7c and disposed slightly in rear of the bridge wall C, and having upwardly disposed apertures p and forwardly disposed apertures g, Figs. 3 and 4, and air retarders r arranged longitudinally in the conduits 7c and extending by preference throughout the length thereof. The said retarders r are in the form of spiral or twisted blades, as shown by full and dotted lines in Fig. 4L, and as their name implies, they are adapted to retard the passage of air through the conduits c, or in other words, are calculated to preclude the direct passage of air through the conduits and to compel the air to take a spiral or tortuous course while en route to the crosswise conduit section n. From this it follows that while en route to the said crosswise section n the air will be retained for a considerable period in close proximity to the fire on the grate D, and consequently when the air emanates from the apertures of the crosswise conduit section, it will be in a highly heated state, and therefore well adapted to assist in supporting combustion and to assure the thorough consumption of gas and smoke and similar' products of combustion. It will also be understood in this connection that the directing of the highly heated air both upward and forward results in such air being commingled with the smoke and gases throughout the rear comparatively large portion of the combustion chamber, and that this contributes in large measure to the complete consumption of the smoke and gases.

From the interior of the combustion chamber B, the draft is through the rear enlarged portion c and thence through flues F which extend outside the casing or shell A. In the present steam boiler furnace embodiment of my invention, the said ilues F extend longitudinally from the forward wall 1 of the chamber portion c through the watercontaining portion of the boiler, and also through the forward end wall of the casing or shell A, and communicate at their forward ends with the stack. By virtue of this arrangement of the flues F, of which there are a considerable number, as clearly shown in Fig. 2, it will be manifest that practically all of the heat values in the fuel are carried in close proximity to the water in the boiler precedent to passing up stack M, with the result that the steaming capacity of the said boiler is rendered high. It will also be manifest that highly heated air is nommingled with the products of combustion in the chamber B, the enlarged portion c thereof and the tlues F, and consequently a high state of combustion is maintained in all of said elements, which are of good heat-conducting material, with the result that practically all of the heat incidental to the combustion is given off and utilized to heat the water in the shell or casing and surrounding all of the said elements.

In addition to the practical advantages hereinbefore ascribed to my improved furnace, it will be noted that the same is both simple and compact in construction, and that all of its parts are well adapted to withstand the usage to which steam boiler and other furnaces are ordinarily subjected.

The construction herein illustrated and described constitutes the best practical embodiment of my invention that I have as yet devised, but itl is obvious that in the future practice of the invention such changes in the form, construction and relative arrangement of parts may be made as do not depart from the scope of my invention as defined in the claim appended.

IIaving described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters-Patent, is:

The combination in a furnace, of a combustion chamber, a grate supported in the forward portion thereof, a bridge wall disposed at the rear end of the grate, longiv tudinal conduits supported by and extending in rear of the bridge wall and located at opposite sides of the grate, a crosswise conduit `joining the rear ends of the longitudinal conduits and having discharge apertures, and conduits communicating at their forward ends with the atmosphere and exs tending rearwardly through the front wall of the combustion chamber and upwardly to points above the grate and communicating with the forward ends of the longitudinal conduits; the said longitudinal conduits being detachably connected with the other conduits, and spiral, air-retarding blades arranged in the said longitudinal conduits.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

. CHARLES HENRY KNOIVLES.

Titnesses CARsTnN E. TnRJUsnN,' J. L. VARREN YVoonvILLn. 

